It's been a tough year for Charlie Appleby and Godolphin – and the future isn't overly bright | The Sun
EVER get the feeling the walls are closing in around you?
No, not because of crumbling concrete, like in our schools and hospitals, but pressure at work or in your everyday life.
It’s never a pleasant sensation when you’re under the cosh, and even champion trainers aren’t immune to the weight of expectation.
Especially when the decline in Charlie Appleby and Godolphin’s fortunes has been one of the most rapid and alarming in the recent history of the sport.
Last year, cheerful Charlie powered to the trainers’ title with 152 winners and over £6.25 million in prize-money – he’s not getting anywhere near those numbers this time around.
I'm not asking you to get the violin out for him and his boss, the guv’nor of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed.
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I don't think they'll be waiting in line at the Newmarket soup kitchen anytime soon.
But, out of nowhere, the Godolphin fun bus has turned into a clown car, the doors and wheels falling off as it has barrelled over the edge of a cliff.
On the surface Appleby appears calm about the situation.
In fairness, when you consider where he came from, it'll probably take more than one bad season to make him lose sleep.
You see, when he started out he was quite literally shovelling s***, and no doubt taking plenty of it as well.
He would get blisters from his fake Gucci loafers and worked ungodly hours travelling runners up and down the country.
He was given a crack at the top job in 2013 after the shameful Mahmood Al Zarooni doping scandal – and over the last few years his results have been spectacular.
Not bad for a bloke with humble roots in a sport where, apparently, key qualifications to become a Flat trainer these days include a quadruple-barrelled middle name and parents who went to Eton.
But there is no denying Appleby has had a rotten time of it by his own high standards.
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He has won just ONE Group 1 this season – and it was a pony renewal of the Lockinge at that.
And, incredibly, his runners drew a blank at the Derby meeting, Royal Ascot, Glorious Goodwood and York's Ebor Festival. That's unheard of.
The likes of Adayar, Hurricane Lane, Modern Games and Native Trail have all been retired, leaving the older horse cupboard virtually bare.
And the most worrying thing of all for Appleby? The future isn't looking obviously bright.
It’s not dissimilar to the situation at my beloved Chelsea – lots of expensively assembled youth, but are they actually any good?
On the face of it, his two-year-old's look well below-par, even allowing for Aablan’s win in the Solario Stakes last weekend.
Never has a trainer so badly needed one of his youngsters to show signs of life.
At least Aablan did that, for all he looks a bit of a headcase and only just scrambled home from a 22-1 shot.
For years, they’ve relied on big daddy Dubawi to keep the conveyor belt of stars coming thick and fast from Dalham Hall Stud.
But he's an old boy now at 21 – I don't care how virile you think you are, getting your leg over three times a day for 18-straight years would leave anyone cream-crackered.
Blue Point has made a promising start to his stud career and Night Of Thunder is rock-solid, but the rest of their stallion roster are unproven or just a bit, meh.
Sadly for Godolphin, super stallions like Dubawi don’t grow on trees and he can't have too much left in the tank, so they're going to have to increasingly rely on bloodlines from 'outside the family'.
Fact is, it doesn’t matter how much credit you've got in the bank, if you work for Sheikh Mo you constantly run the risk of him giving you the cold shoulder.
Just ask Saeed bin Suroor – the four-time champion trainer who fell badly out of favour after a quiet run of form.
The big boss will soon be in town for the October sales in Newmarket, and I expect the Godolphin yearly review will be about as comfortable as kidney stones for Appleby.
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These are treacherous times for him with plenty of young up-and-comers circling in the water ready to strike at the first hint of blood.
He is more than capable of righting the ship, but he can't waste any time getting back on course.
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